Time versus Money

Have you ever asked yourself, how much is your time actually worth? I ponder this question a lot and I always seem to come up with different answers. For example, I think I am worth much more per hour than my job is willing to pay me but we have come to a compromise, if I show up at least they will pay me. But I also realize that there are things that you couldn't pay me to do like go to the movies to watch a horror flick. I don't want to waste two hours of my time doing something I hate only to have nightmares when I go to sleep. And there are things you wouldn't have to pay me to do like read a good book or go swimming at the beach because I love these doing these things.

Then there is the other perspective, how much would I be willing to pay to have someone else do some of the things I have to do, in order to have more time to do the things I like to do? I suppose I would pay someone $5 to wash my dishes because although it's not my favorite thing to do it's really not that bad nor does it take that long but I think someone else may find that $5 is a bit on the low side and probably won't want to take the time to drive to my house and wash my dishes for $5. So, I guess, I'll probably have to keep washing my own dishes.

As my list goes on, I realize that there is no real answer or so I thought. Sometimes I realize in order to understand the wisdom that comes with life you just have to listen to a child. The child in this instance is my youngest son, Kylen. Now that I have reentered the workforce on a full time basis, I realize that it is a big adjustment for all of us. My children miss having me around all the time, I miss being around all the time, and I don't always have the time for all the things I want to do like bike rides, play dates, and field trips but we have a much more secure future because of the sacrifice.

As adults we all understand the reasoning but sometimes it's hard for children to grasp the concept. So as much as I tried to explain all the "reasons" that mommy went back to work it just didn't seem to help. But kids are so much smarter than we adults give them credit for.

Because of Kylen, I now know that my time is worth a nickel...Yep, that's right a whole whoppin' five cents!! You see Kylen does understand why I have to go to work, to him I work in order to get paid. Kylen was willing to pay me for my time. He was willing to pay me five cents so I wouldn't have to go to work and I could just play with him. Now I couldn't not go to work but I could drop everything right then and there in order to spend some quality time with my son.

Now, maybe he knows that for him my time is always free but now I know that all it takes is one shiny nickel to turn me into mush and drop everything for the two most wonderful people I know. Now that we've mastered Time vs. Money, our next lesson is going to be about business and how to drive a hard bargain. Perhaps, Kylen will teach me a thing or two about that as well!